Asian Games 2018: Indian men’s handball team included in draw

The handball teams have been under scanner as they have not fulfilled the IOA criteria of being among the top eight teams in Asia. (Source: Reuters)

India’s men’s handball team has been included in the draw released by the Asian Games organizers even though it was not there in Indian Olympic Association (IOA)’s list of 534 athletes published on June 5.

The draw for the handball has been released with 13 teams divided into four groups. The group comprising India has four teams while other groups have three teams each.

India are in group D alongside Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, India and Iraq.

India’s women’s team were however cleared by IOA and they are in five-team group comprising South Korea, Kazakhstan, China and North Korea.

The handball teams have been under scanner as they have not fulfilled the IOA criteria of being among the top eight teams in Asia. Their performance has been consistently poor and yet they have been given a preference overlooking a more popular sport like football, where India have improved by leaps and bounds to be ranked 14 among Asian teams.